Blood and Water
by Dragonessa Smith
Summary: Another story starring everyone's favorite Weasleys (At least mine): Charlie and Bill! A look at their school days, also explains how Charlie got into Quidditch.
1. Water

A new story about everybodies favorite Weasley (well, mine at least): Charlie! It's not that he was a delinquent when he was younger, he just found hands-on experience more stimulating than book learning. What'll happen when he gets in over his head? Read on to find out.  
  
A/N: Major plot holes alert! I have used poetic license so that Percy and Cedric are in the same year, even though he would have graduated before the Tri-Wizard tournament. There are a few other instances of time-altering, but they're mostly minor, so just ignore them.  
  
  
Water  
  
  
  
"Man, it is freezing out there!" Charlie shivered as he hurried into the warmth of the Burrow.  
  
"Shut the door, or it'll be freezing in here too!" Hermione called from her spot on the floor.   
  
"Oh, I wouldn't dare, Bill's right behind me." Charlie grinned. "What are you all doing?"  
  
"Mum and Dad went out to dinner at some Ministry wizard's house, so we've been playing Truth or Dare." Ginny explained. (A/N: I promise it's not going to center on the game! Please keep reading!)  
  
"Thrilling. How old are you again, ten?" Bill asked sarcastically, slamming the door shut. He shook the snow out of his hair, and began stripping off his many outer layers.  
  
"Oh come on, we were bored. Besides, there was nothing better to do. It's too bloody cold to play Quidditch." Fred complained.  
  
"Yeah, the balls refused to leave the box. Even the bludgers." Harry called.  
  
"Care to join us?" Came a voice from deep in an armchair facing the fire.  
  
"Oh, Percy, don't tell me you're playing too." Charlie laughed.   
  
"Fine, Mr. 'So-cool-my-underwear-is-probably-made-of-ice,' let's see what you do. Truth or dare?" Percy shot back.   
  
"Ice underwear?" Charlie looked at Bill. They both shivered. "Okay, truth."  
  
"Uh...anyone have anything they want to ask Charlie?" Percy called. "I was kinda banking on him taking the dare."  
  
"I figured it would have to do with ice underwear." Charlie joked.  
  
"I've got something I've been wondering for a whle." Harry spoke up. "When did you get into Quidditch?"  
  
Bill and Charlie froze. (Pun intended.)  
  
"Well?" Ginny prodded.  
  
"Well, it all started with a certain pair of self-righteous eleven year olds..." Charlie began.  
  
"Oh no," Percy groaned from his seat. "You're starting at the very beginning, aren't you?"  
  
"You sure you want them to hear about this?" Bill asked, his brow furrowing with concern. He gestured towards Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, who made up over a half of the circle. "Don't you think they may be a bit...unequipped to deal with it?"  
  
"Hey, I was younger than them, and I was equipt enough to go through the whole thing." Charlie argued.   
  
"And besides, after all that set-up, it would be cruel to just cut it off right now." Hermione looked up at Bill pleadingly.  
  
"Fine, whatever, it's your story." Bill sat down on the couch, trying to feign apathy.  
  
Charlie sat down next to him and said, "No way man; it's just as much your story as mine..."  
  
(Flashback! Doodly-Doodly-Doo!)  
  
"Charlie, I know you're in there!"   
  
I was so startled, I almost dropped the Hippogriff egg Hagrid had been showing me and Luiz.   
  
Hagrid looked around nervously. Luiz quickly took the other eggs from his shaking hands and put them on the table.   
  
"C'mon Hagrid, we've done this dozens of times before." I said, peeking out the window before replacing the egg and heading for Hagrid's back door.  
  
"I know, it's just never been the Prefect Youth before."  
  
The Prefect Youth are my brother Percy and his stupid friend Cedric, Luiz's bro. I highly suspected my older brother Bill had brain washed them into thinking classes and learning were more important than the chance to see a real hippogriff's nest.  
  
Percy's girly voice rang out again. "I'm going to tell mum you've been skipping classes again.  
  
Luiz tugged on my arm for me to follow him. We had never gotten caught skipping class before, and we didn't intend to start now.  
  
We eased the door open quietly, then slipped out.  
  
"Going somewhere, Weasley?"  
  
Next thing I knew, I was up against the wall of the hut, my left arm twisted up behind my back.  
  
"Ow, Steve, stop it!" I hollered. Behind me, I saw Percy and Cedric trying to wrestle Luiz to the ground, before Steve, a sixteen year old Hufflepuff prefect, hit the backs of my knees, making my fall into a kneeling position.  
  
"Petrificus totalus." He muttered. My whole body stiffened. Satisfied, he moved on to Luiz, who was currently trying to tear Percy from his back while Cedric was trying desperately to tackle him. I'm embarrassed to say they were succeeding. Luiz is kind of a skinny guy, even for fourteen, but if he starts running, no one can catch him.   
  
Steve used the full body bind on Luiz too. Standing up and wiping his hands, Steve announced, "Good job, guys."  
  
Percy and Cedric looked so damn proud of themselves, I thought. I couldn't wait until later in the common room...Percy wouldn't look so smug with a black eye.  
  
I only half listened as Steve rattled off a list of directions for the dork patrol. It was the usual...he was leaving Cedric in charge...he was going to go get Prof. McGonagall...Percy, go tell Prof. Dumbledore that they caught two students cutting class...yada, yada, yada.   
  
He said the same thing every time. Every time Luiz and I escaped the dork patrol, and you know, with the good grades they get, they aren't very smart. They still haven't figured it out.  
  
As soon as Steve and Percy left, Cedric stood guard, his back to us, facing the front of the castle.   
  
Hagrid developed a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'Flexius totalus,' the full body bind counter curse, while the tip of his pink umbrella peaked out the door at me. We had an unspoken agreement that if he did this for us, we wouldn't mention his part in our cutting, if ever we get caught and punished.   
  
I quietly grabbed my wand and unbound Luiz. We would beat up whoever of the prefect youth was standing guard, then make our escape. Steve never stayed, thankfully; even we, two pretty stupid kids, wouldn't try to take him on, even alone.  
  
Eleven year olds, now that's another story.  
  
After leaving Cedric under a tree, we retreated to a small clearing in the forbidden forest, where we frequently hid after 'getting caught.' Our plan was to wait until a little before dinner ended, sneak up to our respective common rooms, and crawl into bed, feigning illness by the time the prefects checked on why we hadn't been to class that day.  
  
Like I said, we've never been caught cutting...by anyone that matters. 


	2. Blood

A/N: Charlie returns to the common room, where he meets up with Bill again. After discussing plans of revenge, Luiz and Charlie make plans for next Thursday...  
  
  
Blood  
  
  
I had just snuck into the third year dorms and pulled back my covers when someone pushed me-hard-onto the bed and sat on me.  
  
Without even raising my face out of the covers, I called out a muffled "Hey Bill."  
  
"Don't hey Bill me," Bill snapped. "You promised me that last time would be the last time you did something stupid like this."  
  
"It was a Hippogriffs nest, Bill." I added an ounce of pleading to my voice. "It was a once in a lifetime event."  
  
"Of course. Once in a lifetime. You couldn't have waited until the weekend, even though hippogriff eggs take at least three months to hatch, and don't bother telling me you couldn't wait, Hagrid always tells you and Luiz right away when something interesting happens.  
  
"How am I supposed to know this stuff, you know I don't pay attention in Care of Magical Creatures."  
  
"And why the bloody hell not? You seem pretty damn interested in Hippogriffs and that junk."  
  
"Tsk, tsk, if only mum knew what kind of language you use."  
  
"If only she knew what you were doing this afternoon instead of going to class.  
  
He's got me there. "Touche. Now would you get off my back? Figuratively and literally?"  
  
He got off. Slowly. "Come on, Charlie, the teachers aren't going to trust me anymore if I have to keep bailing you out like this."  
  
I sighed, standing up again. "You know, you're way too anal about the whole 'Every teacher's gotta love me' thing."  
  
"I'm a prefect. Anal teacher pleasing is practically the job description."  
  
"You don't want to know how dirty that sounded."  
  
He pushed me back onto the bed. "Just stay out of trouble. Please."  
  
"Easier said than done!" I hollered at him as he walked through the door. 


	3. Waffles

Waffles  
  
  
A/N: Oh, my god. I actually have nothing to say up here.   
  
  
  
I was snuggling down under the covers when Waffles, Luiz's cat, came and jumped onto my bed, carrying a message from Luiz tied to it's collar.   
  
"Good kitty." I petted her gently, then read the letter.  
  
Charlie-  
We have to get back at the dork squad  
For trapping us like that. Any ideas?  
I'm thinking mini-dung bombs in their   
Spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow at   
Dinner. Any suggestions?  
Luiz  
  
I scrawled back, 'Good idea, do they make mini-dung bombs?', then gave it back to Waffles. She scampered out the door, and I fell asleep pretty quickly after that.  
  
The next morning, I woke up with a big pressure on my chest. I thought, maybe I really am sick, but then I opened my eyes.  
  
Seventeen pounds of fur, fat, and cat breath was sitting on my ribs, making it extremely hard to breath.   
  
"C'mon Waffles, c'mon, flip girl." I finally eased her off onto my pillow, then grabbed the note on her collar.  
  
Charlie-  
New plan. Forget about classes  
Next Thursday. We're going to  
London by Floo powder to visit  
Some of my old muggle friends.  
You'll love them; just like me.  
Luiz  
  
I grinned.   
  
Just like Luiz?   
  
I was so in. 


	4. Sneak I

Sneak  
  
A/N: This chapter was so long, I had to split it into three! But the other parts are up already, don't worry!  
  
  
  
"So how are we going to get out of classes for a whole day?" I asked Luiz. "We've only gotten out of half of them at a time before." We were back in the clearing while the rest of the school was at a Quidditch match.   
  
Bill was always bugging me to try out for the team. He said I'd make a good Seeker. Pshaw. He just wants me on the team so his friend Jamie Wood, the captain, could keep an eye on me every night, and make sure I don't disrupt Bill's anal teacher pleasing.  
  
"Easy. Your first class is Herbiology, right?"  
  
"Duh."  
  
"Well, you get bit by a mandrake, then when Sprout sends you to the hospital wing, I'll meet you by the Gryffindor common room, we go in, use Floo powder to get to London, meet my friends, and then boom. We're back before dinner, and you're already in your common room."  
  
"Why do I have to get bit by a mandrake? And what are you doing?"  
  
"Fainting in Potions. And you need to get bit because everything else in the damn Greenhouse is too poisonous. Unless you'd like to spill some undiluted bouber tuber puss on your-"  
  
"Fine, I'll get bit. Let's try and make it a half-hour into class, so it doesn't look too planned."  
  
"Fine. So, want to go enchant acorns and throw them at the Quidditch losers?"  
  
"Sound's fun."  
  
~!*!~  
  
Unfortunately, even the best laid plans of mice and men have their hang-ups.  
  
I had just gotten bit, and was heading for Gryffindor tower. Man, those things had sharp teeth, I thought, as I played with a flap of skin on my hand.   
  
I arrived and looked around. Luiz wasn't here yet, I had time to go and get a bandage. Bill kept a whole first aid kit under his bed. I could probably even find something to take the sting off...  
  
"Persnickety." I said, then climbed in the portrait hole and made my way up the stairs to the sixth year dormitories.  
  
I had just found the kit when I heard noises on the stairs. I dove under Bill's bed as the door opened.  
  
"...and did you see that seventh year Slytherin with his ear pierced? It looks so disgusting." Steve's voice said. I had to resist the urge to grab his ankle and scare the shit out of him. From my vantage point, I could see him polishing his prefect badge before he sat down on one of the beds.   
  
There's Percy in four years, I thought to myself.  
  
"I dunno, it looked kind of interesting." Okay, that was Bill's voice, but it couldn't be him saying that. People who thought earrings were interesting were usually, well, interesting themselves.   
  
"Do you have an extra bottle of ink? When that little snot Luiz ran into me just now, he broke mine. Covered half my books. I doubt he was on his way to the hospital wing."  
  
"Here." I assumed Bill tossed him a bottle then. "You know, I'll bet he's not half as bad as he says he is."  
  
"Yeah, your brother is, though."   
  
"Don't talk shit about my brother when he's not here to defend himself."  
  
Hey, I thought. Don't talk shit about me, period.  
  
"Did you see Cedric? I know that was Charlie, it was all on the right side of his face. Luiz's right-handed. He would have beaten the left side of Cedric's face." (A/N: Read 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' good book)  
  
Bill was silent for a moment. I bit my lip.  
  
"He didn't used to be like that, you know." Bill started, but the door banged open, and they both jumped. 


	5. Sneak II

Sneak, Part II  
  
  
A/N: It feels so weird to not have anything to say.  
  
  
  
  
"Who didn't used to be like what?" Woah, I didn't need the voice, I recognized those legs. Juliana Blaise, the only female prefect. "Am I late?" Seems like I'd stumbled into some kind of prefect meeting.  
  
"We were talking about Charlie, Bill's brother."  
  
"Oh, the cute trouble-maker I busted for trying to break into the teacher's lounge last week with the skinny kid?"  
  
Me, cute? Well, devilishly handsome, I could see, but cute?  
  
"I was saying, he used to be a good kid. I think Luiz is just a bad influence on him. You'll notice he never does bad stuff on his own. I try to get him into Quidditch, but he just blows me off every time."  
  
"Maybe you're just jealous that Luiz, a lil' fourth year, influences him more than big, bad Bill." Juliana reasoned.  
  
"Who actually calls me that?" Bill asked.   
  
"No one...to your face." Juliana added the last part quietly.  
  
"Am I annoying? Do I have bad breath? What is it that makes him not like me, at all?" Bill was starting to digress. He sat down heavily on the bed, bouncing my head against the floor.   
  
I'll tell you right now, things like that don't make me like him any more.  
  
"It could have something to do with that." Great, someone else is here now. Why doesn't McGonagall show up, and we'll have a party? Well, there was already a rep from Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff, so I was guessing this was the Ravenclaw prefect.  
  
I couldn't see what the new guy was talking about, but I had a good idea when Bill went "Being a prefect is an honor."  
  
"To people like us." Juliana said bluntly. "Have you not noticed that nobody likes us when we wear these stupid badges? They either fear us or blatantly ignore our authority. Take the cases of your brothers. In them, we have the two extremes. On one hand, we have Percy, who worships the ground we walk on."  
  
"If more prefects looked like you, I would worship the ground they walked on too." Steve said, prompting laughter from Bill and the other guy.  
  
"If more prefects looked like you, maybe we could scare them into behaving." Juliana snapped back. Damn, the girl's good. Bill and Newbie double over laughing.   
  
Oh, shit shit shit...Bill actually fell over laughing. If he opens his eyes, I'm so busted.  
  
I'm so busted.  
  
Bill looks shocked, to say the least. I put a finger to my lips, then put my hands together like I was begging. He stood up again before I could see how he reacted. I tensed, ready to spring out from under this bed and book it for the door.  
  
"So," Bill swallowed so hard, I could hear it. "You were saying about Percy?"  
  
"Yeah, Percy's main goal seems to be to make prefect or head boy, or both. Then there's Charlie."  
  
"The delinquent trouble-maker?" Bill asked, nonchalantly swinging his foot back and forth, kicking me in the knee repeatedly.   
  
"Exactly. He totally disrespects us everyday, and on the off chance we do catch him doing something, he relies on you to bail him out."  
  
"Hey, I don't bail him out." Bill sneered. "You know what happens whenever Steve catches him and Luiz cutting."  
  
"I hate it when double-D tells me 'There's no evidence they were here, Mr. Quag, and you cannot disprove someone having a very bad headache and deciding to stay in bed all day.' Man, I hate that. Just once, I want to bust his ass. No offense, Bill." Steve added, as an afterthought.  
  
"Hey, why would I care, he's only my brother." Bill snapped crossly.  
  
"This is what Juliana was talking about, Bill." Newbie said. "You're so defensive about Charlie, you end up covering for him more than you should. How many times do you think Charlie's said that sentence about you, and meant it? Maybe not in those exact words, but-"  
  
"Shut up Frank."  
  
Frank. That was his name. I knew it. I mulled over what Frank had said for a few minutes. Bill didn't seem defensive about me; on the contrary, he was always the one picking on me, telling me to do my homework, go to sleep, eat my vegetables.   
  
The only time I could remember him being defensive was when I was first learning to fly, and some Slytherin's had set the bludgers on my class. He had been patrolling nearby during his free period, but when he saw me sitting there, frozen fifty feet above the ground, he grabbed a broom and literally dragged me back down.  
  
"Hey, look, it's Twiggy's cat." Steve announced, breaking the tension.  
  
Uh-oh, it was Waffles. She had snuck in and was coming straight at me. There was no note attached, so that meant Luiz had sent her to find me. Crap.  
  
"How's a skinny kid like him get such a fat cat?"  
  
They were all still laughing when Luiz burst into the room, shouting, "Finally!" Then he stopped dead.  
  
"What's the matter?" Juliana asked calmly. Steve stood up and started towards Luiz, but Bill stepped in front of him.  
  
"There's a-a-a big fight going down by the Quidditch pitch. Something about how the last game ended. Hurry!" Luiz disguised his stammer by pretending to be out of breath.  
  
Steve and Juliana raced out of the room, Frank on their heels. 


	6. Sneak III

Sneak, Part III  
  
  
A/N: Final part of this chapter! Is it still a chapter if it's written like one, but I had to split it up? Tell me in your reveiw (cough cough) what you think.  
  
  
  
Once they were gone and it was quiet again, Luiz bent over and said, "You look comfy."  
  
"Laugh it up, Chuckles, Juliana Blaise thinks I'm cute." I climbed out from under the bed. Bill looked like he was about to kill me. "I can explain-"   
  
"You better." Bill's voice was colder than I'd ever heard before. Better play the sympathy card.  
  
"Well, in Herbiology, I was repotting mandrakes, and one of those lil' suckers bit me when I was distracted-"  
  
"I'll bet."  
  
"Knowing how well prepared you always are-"  
  
"Stop sucking up."   
  
"I came to get a bandage for my hand." The blood had already dried up and formed a crusty red blob on my arm. I held it out for Bill to inspect. He sighed, before reaching for the first aid kit.  
  
"This may sting a bit. Who am I kidding, it'll definitely sting a lot." He muttered, rubbing a damp cotton ball over the wound.  
  
"Ow!" I screamed.  
  
"You should have thought of this before you started spying on us." Bill rubbed harder. "And don't think I believe your 'I need first aid' story."  
  
"Why not?" I asked, playing up my hurt-puppy eyes.  
  
"If you were just getting the kit, why'd you hide?"  
  
"With my track record, wouldn't you have hid?" I asked, sticking out my bottom lip slightly to look more pathetic.  
  
Bill sighed. "Just get back to class, okay bro? I'll explain if your teachers ask anything."  
  
I grinned. "Thanks, Bill, you're the greatest."   
  
Going, going...it's gone! And Charlie Weasley hit's a home run, and is out the door before his brother realizes he's bull-shitting the whole thing!  
  
After Luiz and I shut the door, he looks at me and laughs. "You're the greatest?"  
  
"So gullible." I grinned back.  
  
(Flash forward! Yldood-Yldood-Ood!)  
  
"If I had known Bill was listening by the door, and heard every word, and if I had known how hurt those words would make him...well, yeah, I probably would have said it anyway. I was kind of an ass back then." Charlie lamented.  
  
"Kind of?" Hermione asked dubiously.  
  
"Back then?" Bill added in an innocent voice.   
  
"How does this relate to Quidditch in any way, shape, or form?" Fred yawned. "All I've found out was that Charlie was a big brat when he was a '''tween. Everyone goes through that."  
  
"I'm getting there, I'm getting there, chill." Charlie began again. "It was too late to meet Luiz's friends, so he set up another meeting, the very next day..." 


	7. Gone

Gone  
  
  
A/N: The title is describing these author notes more than the actual story...  
  
  
"Charlie! Charles! Chuck! Chaz! Yo, stupid!" Luiz hissed. He was trying desperately to get my attention without attracting that of the rest of the crowd of third years headed for the greenhouses.  
  
I lagged behind, then ran over to where he was hiding, behind a tree on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "What are you doing here man?" I looked around nervously, hoping Prof. Sprout didn't show up early. The teachers always seemed to know when we were up to something.  
  
"Never mind that, we're going right now."  
  
"What? I missed Herbiology yesterday, Sprout will definitely know something's up if I miss two days in a row."  
  
"Oh, gee, sorry, Percy, I thought you were someone cooler." Luiz mocked, standing and pretending to walk away.  
  
I stood still for a few seconds, debating with myself. Finally, I ran after Luiz. "Fine, fine, how are we going to get back up to the castle now?"  
  
"There's the beauty of it, we don't have to!" Luiz grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "Hagrid's out doing something, he'll never know, we just need to sneak into his hut, we hang out all day, then, even more beauty, we sneak in at like, two in the morning, no one will notice if we're not at dinner, there's a Quidditch match tonight. I could introduce you to the London club scene!"  
  
"Uh, Luiz, problem: I'm thirteen. Even the under-21 clubs are usually 14-19."  
  
He laughed. "You are such a third year. Due to the wonders of twenty-four hour copy shops, you no longer have a problem, Samson Laurence."  
  
He produced two small cards and handed them to me. One had a picture of a very ugly muggle woman with very fake red hair; the other was of an African-American man in his early thirties. Neither one looked like either of us.  
  
"Jacob Anderson?" I asked skeptically.  
  
"Hey, that's Dr. Anderson to you. Let's go!"   
  
He started dragging me towards Hagrid's hut. "I-I'm not sure, Luiz, I mean, what if Hagrid get's in trouble because of us?"  
  
"How's he going to get in trouble?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe they have, like, Floo powder records or something."  
  
"Charlie." Luiz was suddenly Mr. Sarcastic. "Do you want to come, or not? If you don't, that's all right. Maybe Jamie could teach you some Quidditch moves after the game. Bill would be so proud."   
  
I sneered at him. "Pick on Bill all you want, I can get away with anything I want because of him."  
  
"Then you can get away with this. Come on."  
  
I was still trying to figure out what had just happened when I found myself being pushed into the fire.  
  
I stumbled out into the Leaky Cauldron. It was empty, thankfully, devoid of even the most devoted patrons at 8:00 on a Friday morning.  
  
"Come on, follow me." Luiz sounded more excited than I'd ever heard him before. He was practically bouncing.  
  
"Where are we going?" I asked, partly out of interest, partly out of fear. I'd never been to London before, except to get to Diagon Alley.  
  
"Corinth street. There's an alley halfway down, and they're always there." (A/N: If there really is a Corinth street, I'm very sorry to everyone who lives there for this story.)  
  
We walked in silence for a few seconds, then I asked, "So, pretend you're Prof. Binns. Give me a history lesson. Who are they, how did you meet them?"  
  
"It'll probably be Ant, Buzzy, SOS, Noodle-"  
  
"Are those real people?"  
  
"No duh. They just have a lot of nicknames. I'm Boo. Which reminds me, you need a-"  
  
"Dragonmaster."  
  
"Dragonmaster? You've thought about this before, haven't you?"  
  
"A little. How'd you get the name Boo?  
  
Luiz hesitated for a second, but shook off whatever was bothering him. "Well, I was friend's with Ant's little brother, Jesse. I was over at his house for a birthday party. We were playing hide and seek, and I decided to hide in Ant's closet, since he wasn't home.  
  
"After a while, no one's found me, so I get out and start looking around Ant's room. I opened a drawer, and there were little bags of white powder. It looked a lot like sugar, and I'd just picked one up when someone behind me goes-"  
  
"Boo!." A voice behind me said. I jumped, but Luiz spun around, grinning at the half-dozen guys standing behind us in what seemed like a cloud of smoke in an alley. I hadn't even realized where we were going.  
  
(A/N: Okay, I've never done drugs, or known anyone who has (and admitted it to me), so the next few chapters are purely fictional, and based on the experiences I've read about on websites. I'm deeply sorry if I offend anyone in anyway, I was not trying to. And if it sounds stereotypical, I'm sorry too.)  
  
"Yo." He said back, trying to wipe the smile off his face.  
  
"Hey, it's Boo. Long time no see." One of them muttered. It took me a minute to figure out that was his regular voice. The whole lot of them seemed to be a few decibels quieter than the rest of the street, which was filled with yappy kids and shrill mothers yelling at them. I figured out later there was a Muggle elementary school just down the street.  
  
"I told you, my mom shipped me off to some boarding school up north. This is my friend Dragonmaster, the only reason I haven't gone crazy yet."  
  
"Hi-er, yo." They just nodded at me and went on doing whatever they had been doing. I saw one guy behind the rest with a needle in his arm. Another was sucking on a little piece of paper lit at one end.  
  
"Er, Luiz? I mean, Boo? What're they doing?" I whispered, trying not to be too obvious.  
  
Unfortunately, one of the guys heard me, and started laughing. Kind of. It sounded more like he was choking.  
  
"Boo boy, you brought a soap here?" He laughed/choked again.  
  
"Soap?" I figured if I was going to sound like an idiot, I might as well get my questions answered.  
  
"Fresh. Clean. That lovely new smell of a kid who hasn't had their first joint."   
  
"Joint of what?"   
  
They all laughed again. "I love this kid." A guy in a hooded sweatshirt cackled. "Here." He handed me one of the rolled pieces of paper. "First one. On me." When I just stared at it, they all laughed again.   
  
Luiz nudged me. "Here," He said, holding up a lighter. Once it was lit, I tried to imitate what Luiz was doing.   
  
(Flashforward! Yldood-Yldood-Ood!)  
  
"...Thus began my descent into the worst time I ever had." Charlie lamented.   
  
"Charlie! How could you have been so stupid?" Ginny cried. "You yourself told me all about that stuff the summer before I started Hogwarts!"  
  
"Why do you think I was so insistent that all of you learn about this stuff?" Charlie shot back.   
  
While Ginny mulled over that silently, Hermione spoke up.   
  
"What happened after that?" She asked.  
  
"I really don't remember, that's how much the stuff messed with my head. The next part of the story I only remember because Bill told me about it afterwards..." 


	8. Caught

Caught  
  
A/N: Last day of school tomorrow! Two hours of algebra is all that stands in my way from complete freedom for a few months!  
  
  
It was almost four in the morning when we stumbled out of Hagrid's fireplace again. Luckily, he was a very heavy sleeper.   
  
"Shh..." Luiz practically screamed as he stumbled into Hagrid's table. "We gotta get outta here."  
  
I nodded, my whole body going up and down. I stepped back, right onto the tip of Fang, Hagrid's boarhound puppy's tail.   
  
He barely whimpered in his sleep, but it set off alarms in my head.   
  
"Run!" I shouted, sprinting for the door, Luiz right on my heels.  
  
We streaked up the lawn, in through the huge doors, and I was on the fourth floor before I wondered what I was doing and stopped.   
  
I had lost Luiz somewhere along the way. He was probably still running, I thought. This struck me as hilarious, and I was still doubled up laughing when I heard footsteps and someone yelling "Charlie!"  
  
"Bill?" It didn't surprise me at all that he was up at four, I was so glad to see him. "Man, I love you, man, it was so awesome tonight, so fun..."  
  
"Charlie? Are you okay? Where were you tonight? You...you reek. You smell like...like..."  
  
"Man, they said they were gonna introduce me to some girl named Mary, but she never showed up, Mary Jane..."  
  
I only had a light grip on reality by then, so I barely realized Bill was carrying me down the hall, towards the prefect's bathroom.  
  
My head cleared significantly though, when he filled a sink with ice cold water and forced my head into it.  
  
Spluttering and splashing, I shouted "Bill, what the hell do you think you're doing," breathing in a lung-full of water along the way.  
  
He grabbed hold of a handful of hair from the back of my head and yanked me up.  
  
"Did it occur to you, ever, during all this fun, that you could have died tonight?" Bill hissed, tightening his grip on the word 'died.'  
  
"What? No, man, it's just this candy stuff Luiz's friends gave me-"  
  
"That little...I should have known Luiz was part of this. Charlie, look at me! Charlie!" He let go of my hair and slapped my cheeks slightly, as I had started to fall asleep. "Charlie, what did the 'candy stuff' look like?"  
  
"Huh? Well, some was powdery shit, and man, it looked like snow outta this one guy's nose. Joints, not real joints, like the kind your nose gets out of." I started laughing again, but Bill shook me, and I focused slightly. "Then there was cartoons printed on paper you could eat. It was so cool, it was like little tatoos for your tongue..."  
  
"Weed, acid, oh, god, Charlie, look at me, how much of the stuff did you eat?"  
  
"Like, half the sheet man, that stuff was good. What's wrong Billy, it was just candy. I'm just hyper..."  
  
"You're high, all right." He muttered.  
  
"I'm tired. I'm gonna go to sleep now."  
  
He grabbed me by the hair again before I fell. "Anything else, Charlie, please!"  
  
"There was some liquid stuff, in fat old needles. Those scared the shit out of me, I didn't go near them. Can I sleep now?"  
  
"Good. You did something right." He grabbed a few towels and laid them out for me. "Okay, Charlie, you're gonna sleep here tonight, okay? It'll be just like a sleep over, like we used to have at home."  
  
"Thanks, man, that's really great of..." I was out cold. 


	9. Diagnosis

Diagnosis  
  
  
A/N: So...how are you guys?  
  
  
When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I saw was Bill's face looming over me. He was slightly blurry, and there was someone I didn't recognize.  
  
"Bill?" I croaked. My throat was all sore and dry, like I'd been screaming for hours on end.  
  
"Shh, Charlie, it's gonna be all right, okay? Just relax..." He looked over at the other guy. "Frank, what do we do?"  
  
"I don't think there's much we can do. His heart rates not irregular anymore, thank god, Charlie? What color is the ceiling?"  
  
"Um...red? Yellow? It's like, switching."   
  
"His vision is still screwed up. That should wear off in a few hours, depending on when he took the drugs."  
  
"Drugs?" I asked, trying to sit up. We'd learned a bit about drugs in Muggle Studies. Bill pushed me back down. "No, no, it was candy, Frankie, candy..."  
  
"They told him it was candy?" Frank muttered. "What kind of sickos would do that to a kid this young?"  
  
"Luiz's friends." Bill said curtly, feeling my forehead.  
  
"I should have known. That guy should have been kicked out a long time ago." He lowered his voice. "Bill, this could be just what we need to get rid of him for good."  
  
"No way, Frank. There's no way I'm-"  
  
"Why not? Do you not see what he's done to Charlie?"  
  
"That's exactly the problem. We can't get Luiz without incriminating Charlie. He did go along and take the drugs voluntarily."  
  
"He had no idea what they were!" When Bill still wouldn't meet his eye, Frank turned red. "So you'd rather let Luiz get away with all this than risk Charlie getting in trouble. Man, this is exactly what Juliana was talking about-"  
  
"You think I don't know that?" Bill snapped suddenly. "Do you think I like seeing Charlie like this?"  
  
"Bill, chill." I laughed. "Hey, that rhymes..."  
  
"Charlie, would you just shut up now!" Bill yelled, finally losing his temper. "Unlike you, I actually care about what happens to my brothers!"  
  
I was mortally offended. "Bill, man, I care about you-"  
  
"You sure have a hell of a way of showing it."   
  
"I only went because of you..."  
  
They both were looking at me now. "Charlie? What'd you say? Why did you go because of me?" Bill asked, shaking my head, trying to get me to talk.  
  
"You're a prefect...somehow Luiz double-talked me into saying something like I could get away with anything because you're a prefect. Otherwise I would have been too scared to even consider it." My head was feeling a lot heavier all of a sudden. "I didn't even know what that stuff was, Bill. They told me it was candy, and I didn't know any better. I swear, I didn't...I should have known, that's what they told Luiz..."  
  
The last thing I remembered was the look of pain on Bill's face.  
  
(Flashforward! Yldood-Yldood-Ood!)  
  
"I remember at the time, just thinking that I had been the cause of all that." Bill spoke up for the first time since Charlie had began talking. "He'd made me feel so damn guilty..."  
  
"Dude, it wasn't your fault at all. I should have known better than to trust Luiz a second time-"  
  
"A second time?" Ginny gasped.  
  
Percy sat up straight. "I've never heard this part before."  
  
"Yeah, that's because after it happened, we never spoke about it again..." 


	10. Cold

Cold  
  
  
A/N: This story will be done in one or two chapters!  
  
  
  
I kind of avoided Luiz for a few days after that. Mostly because Bill had become my second shadow, popping up before and after most of my classes, sitting near me at dinner, even waiting in the common room until I went to bed.  
  
But I was also avoiding Luiz because I was scared. Scared of how easily I had been tricked. Bill pulled me aside one night, and we headed back to the prefects bathroom, where Frank was waiting. He explained a lot about what I had taken that night, and what it had done to me.  
  
I guess being muggle-born has it's perks. Especially if your mom's a nurse.  
  
After two weeks, Bill seemed satisfied that I could function by myself again. He stopped showing up at all my classes.   
  
I really wish he had kept it up.  
  
It was another cold morning as I was walking to the Greenhouse when Luiz pulled me into the forest.  
  
"Dragonmaster, where ya been?"   
  
"I've been busy. Classes." I stared down at my shoes, then up at the trees, and back over at the greenhouses. Anything to keep from looking him in the eye.  
  
Luiz laughed. "The guys loved you so much, they want us to come back ASAP. They just got some new-"  
  
"I'm busy." I said shortly, trying to walk away. Luiz stepped in front of me.  
  
"I never even said when yet." He accused. "You've been avoiding me, Charlie. What's up?"   
  
"I don't want to do that shit again." I blurted out. My cheeks burned red as I traced a pattern in the dirt with my shoe.  
  
Luiz looked confused, but then he grinned.   
  
"Man, I thought this was serious." He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. C'mon, man, you won't have to do anything you don't want to." Luiz promised. "Come on, what're they gonna do, hold you down and force it in your mouth?"  
  
"I just don't feel comfortable, that's all." I muttered, turning towards the Greenhouse again.  
  
He grabbed my wrist. "Look, Charlie, I'll make sure nothing happens. They'll listen to me."  
  
"I listened to you too." I snapped.   
  
He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Nothing's gonna happen. I swear it. Come on, Charlie, if you can't trust me, who can you trust? I'm like, your only friend."  
  
I looked at him for a minute, trying to decide if I should trust him again. I looked over at the green house as the rest of my class filed in. I really didn't want to lose Luiz. He was my only friend...  
  
"When?" I asked, even as my stomach tied in knots.   
  
Luiz grinned. "That's the beauty part, you won't even miss any of your precious Herbiology time. We go this weekend. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, and no one will miss us..."  
  
"No one will miss you." I said under my breath, thinking about Bill as Luiz outlined the details.  
  
  
Three days later, I was back in the alley with Luiz, shivering even though it wasn't that cold.   
  
"Hey man, you just missed Darren." Noodle sighed. They all seemed happier than the last time I saw them. There also seemed like there were more of them.  
  
"Damn, anything new?" Luiz hurried over, leaving me standing there. I don't know what I had been expecting, but that wasn't it. He hadn't told anyone to not offer me anything.  
  
"Hey, Alpo, this is the guy I wanted you to meet." Buzzy called, placing his arm across my shoulders. He had scars up and down his arms, like he'd gotten in a fight with a cat. I was beginning to notice a lot of them did. And they all seemed to be bleeding from some part of their body.  
  
"This the soap you guys washed?" A tall guy, the only redhead I'd seen that I wasn't related to, ambled over and looked at me. "What'd you give him?"  
  
"Crack with dust, Felix acid, and some of Darren's signature weed." Noodle was grinning, and for the first time I noticied he was missing some teeth.   
  
"Man, and he didn't o.d? He couldn't have been a soap. No soap could take Darren's signature weed and not o.d."  
  
"I'll prove it." Buzzy called out. He dug into his pocket, and produced another roll of paper. Holding it out to me, he told Alpo, "Watch."  
  
I stared at it for a while, not comprehending what they were talking about. Luiz had told me they wouldn't even offer me anything. Wait a minute, Luiz!  
  
My eyes darted to Luiz for backup, but he was busy with a needle. I looked back at Buzzy, who was shoving the joint under my nose.   
  
"I-I..." I started shaking again. He shoved the joint in my hand. I stared at it, jumping slightly in my palm.   
  
They all stared at me expectantly. I put it between my fingers to stall. Alpo held out a light. I had just held it up when...  
  
"Charlie!"  
  
They all jumped, probably unaccustomed to such a loud voice. I looked over my shoulder towards where the voice originated, and felt all my blood pool in my feet.  
  
Bill was stalking towards me, fists clenched, cheeks red. 


	11. Jump

A/N: If you can come up with a better ending...well, by all means, leave it in the review. I know this ending stinks on ice. I suck at ending things. Everytime I try to, I just think of more things to say.  
  
  
Jump  
  
  
Bill was stalking towards me, fists clenched, cheeks red.  
  
I was shaking more now, and the joint bounced out of my fingers and onto the ground.  
  
Several guys jumped at it, breaking the tension that had formed. I still stood like a statue, feeling like I was going to be sick.  
  
When Bill was about two inches in front of me, he started shouting.  
  
"Charlie, what the fuck do you think your doing? I trusted you, Charlie, I trusted you when no one else wanted to give you a second chance! They wanted to throw you out on your ass. I was so stupid, I'd tell them, he deserves another chance. He's a good kid. Bull shit, I should have let them expell you!"  
  
He grabbed my arm now, and started dragging me away. I didn't really try and fight him.   
  
Unfortunetly, Noodle did.  
  
"Hey!" He grabbed my other arm. "Who do you think you are? If Dragonmaster wants to stay, let him. You can't control what he-"  
  
That's as far as he got before Bill's fist slammed into his face. If he was missing teeth before...  
  
Bill dragged me along, still shouting. I was kinda in shock from Bill's violent outburst. He had used his left hand to punch Noodle. That must be some kind of recessive gene thingy. I thought about all the times I'd hit Cedric and Percy...I mentally shook myself. This was all I cared about?  
  
When we were maybe two blocks away, Bill let go of my arm suddenly. He had stopped shouting long ago, and I had been dragged in silence for a while.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked, sounding a lot calmer than before. "Did they hurt you? I couldn't see from my angle, your back was to me a lot-"  
  
"You were watching me?" I asked in disbelief. "How did you...why'd you..."  
  
"When I couldn't find you or Luiz anywhere before we left for Hogsmeade, I figured somethign was up. I asked around, and someone said they saw you skulking around Hagrid's hut. I peered in the window just as I heard you call out 'Leaky Cauldron, then I followed you here.'"  
  
As he was giving his mini-speech, he had been inspecting my arms and fingers for marks. I yanked my hand out of his grasp. My fear was gone, replaced by anger that was quickly rising.  
  
"You didn't trust me?" I snarled.  
  
"No." Bill calmly replied. "I didn't trust those guys."  
  
I was silent for maybe half a block. Then...  
  
"Hey Bill?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks for not trusting me."  
  
He looked at me and smiled. "No biggie, I do it every day."  
  
(Flashforward! Yldood-Yldood-Ood!)  
  
The silence that had embarked upon the Burrow after Charlie finished his story was broken by Fred.  
  
"So how does Quidditch tie into this?" He asked for the third time.  
  
"I'm getting there, calm down. Anyway, it was maybe a year after that all happened. I didn't talk to Luiz again, and he was avoiding me anyway...probably because he saw Bill's left hook. But he just wouldn't leave us alone."  
  
(Flashback! Doodly-Doodly-Doo!)  
  
"Gryffindor in possesion, Wood passes to Wood, and-Oh my gosh, the Gryffindor Seeker is going into a dive!"  
  
The crowd jumped to it's feet as one, watching the dot of red zoom towards the ground.  
  
"He's going, going...where the heck's he going?" The crowd was still watching as he dive-bombed a group of three that was standing near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The tallest of the group dove to the ground, while the other two, who looked like identical twins, watched in wonder.  
  
Charlie pointed the end of his broom at Luiz. "Stay away from my brothers, Luiz." He said, in a threatening tone. Fred and George had moved from behind him to his side. Glancing at them, he said, "Go watch the game."  
  
"C'mon, Charlie, man, I thought we were friends." Luiz pleaded.  
  
Charlie looked at him coldly. "Then you're sadly mistaken."  
  
He shot forward suddenly. Luiz screamed and bolted into the Forbidden Forest.   
  
"Wimp." Charlie muttered. Satisfied he was gone, he turned to rejoin the game...and came face to face to face with Fred and George.  
  
"Say, er, Fred? George? Why don't you sit with Bill?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" Fred looked at him dubiously.  
  
"He's head boy." George added, in case Charlie hadn't gotten it from Fred's statement.  
  
"Still, he's not that bad." Charlie sighed. "Come on, if you go sit with him, I'll give you a ride up there on my broomstick."  
  
"Awesome!" They cried together. Clamoring onto the broomstick, they rose carefully.  
  
After dropping off the twins in the Gryffindor box, he dove again.  
  
"Oh look, he's picking up some more of his brothers. How many does he have?" The Slytherin seeker laughed.  
  
"Uh, Mike?" One of the Slytherin beaters called. "Since when are his brothers gold and feathery?"  
  
(Flashforward! Yldood-Yldood-Ood!)  
  
"So in a way, Charlie's poor judge of character is responsible for getting you two into Quidditch also." Hermione reasoned.   
  
"I don't even remember that part." George looked at Fred, who shook his head.  
  
"Well, you were only first years. It was like, about seven years ago. So," Charlie cleared his throat. "Percy, truth or dare?"  
  
"Huh?" Percy looked around.   
  
"Well, I finished mine, and now I get to pick someone. Truth or dare?"  
  
"Uh...truth?"  
  
"What were you and Penny really doing when I walked in on you two last month?"  
  
"Um, I, uh...I have no idea what your talking about." Percy mumbled quickly. "Ron?"  
  
"Wait, I want to hear this." Hermione grinned.   
  
"We were researching resuscitation techniques." Percy said stiffly.  
  
"Translation: Mouth-to-mouth." Bill laughed.  
  
"C'mon, you could always take the dare." Charlie said innocently.   
  
Percy paled. "Ice underwear?" He asked.  
  
"Ice underwear." Charlie nodded.  
  
He sighed. "Okay, so it was just a regular study session..." 


End file.
